Original T/A racing photographs, late 60's & early 70's

[Jon Mello]

Terrific stuff! Todd, your dad was a very good driver. He had some good success with a '63 Z06 Corvette as well as the Camaro. He was good enough to be asked to join the Owens-Corning Corvette team for races at Daytona and Sebring and they were the dominant team at that time. Many thanks for letting us see those neat historical photographs. We'd love to see more or hear more from you as time allows.

[Jon Mello]

Ron Fournier was and still is a master fabricator who joined the Penske race team in the fall of '67. He was responsible
for most of the construction of the '68 and '69 Penske Camaro race cars. Here he is sitting in the second '68 race car
prior to it being lettered. This is at the Penske race shop in Newtown Square, PA.

You can read a little more about Ron here.


Ron Fournier Collection

[oldtransamdriver]

A great story on one of the unsung racing heros.  I was priveleged to meet him at the 09 Petersen Tribute to Trans-Am. - always had great admiration for the guys who could weld and fabricate etc.

Robert Barg

[firstgenaddict]

I see the red guts, what color was the car when delivered?

[Jon Mello]

This car was a body-in-white and was not a completed car, just a body. From there they built it into a completed race car after first acid-dipping it to reduce weight. They painted the car blue and put a red interior in it apparently because they liked the combination. I have seen a photo later in the season where Donohue's car has blue interior panels.

[Jon Mello]

A photo of the '69 Penske Camaro dash and interior. This is early in the '69 season due to the presence of the vinyl top.


Frank Dihartce Collection

[Jon Mello]

Mark Donohue's Camaro. This is believed to be at Mid-Ohio in June '69.


Frank Dihartce Collection

[Jon Mello]

Ron Bucknum, driver of the #9 Penske Camaro for the 1969 season.


Frank Dihartce Collection


Frank Dihartce Collection


Frank Dihartce Collection

[Jon Mello]

Daytona, February 1968.
L-R: Roger Penske, Mark Donohue, Bob Johnson, Craig Fisher. Standing: Jerry Kroninger, from Sun Oil.
Thank you to Pat Ryan for forwarding this to me so I could post it.


Jerry Kroninger Collection

[Jon Mello]

Photos from Sebring, March 1968. This was a 12-hour endurance race (also an official part of the Trans-Am schedule) where the Trans-Am cars were included in the same race as the Porsche 907 prototypes, GT40s, Lola T70s, etc. Mark Donohue and Craig Fisher finished an amazing 3rd overall and 1st in Trans-Am. A truly outstanding accomplishment. Many thanks to Pat Ryan for forwarding these Jerry Kroninger photos for us to enjoy.

Here Mark Donohue and Roger Penske check out the Camaro upon their arrival.


Notice the numbers for each car, 15 & 16. Each car in the photos below wears the opposite number than it did in the actual race.
The car with the vent window (wind wing) in the door is the '67 lightweight car from the previous season. It was under minimum
weight and did not get run through tech inspection. They ran the '68 through tech inspection twice by changing the car number
in a closed airplane hangar between each inspection. A risky proposition but they pulled it off successfully.











All 7 photos above by Jerry Kroninger

[Jon Mello]

Here is the Sebring Trans-Am class-winner showing the #15 on it, as it was during the race. While the '68 (heavier car) was the car that went through tech inspection twice, this lighter car is the one that qualified both cars for the race during the practice laps.

[OCTARD]

1969 Penske Camaro of Donohue refueling at 1969 Watkins Glen Trans-Am.  Photo from March, 1970, Auto Racing magazine.

[OCTARD]

Warren Fairbanks 1967 Z/28 at Road America in 1971 from Aug-Sept 1971 CORVETTE NEWS.

[JoeC]

Interesting that both cars in 1968 Sebring photos has the SS hood with what lookes like the stock louver trim parts in place.

I always wonder why they used the SS hood instead of the stock Z/28 flat hood (67-68)

I have read that one of the cars was bought new as an SS but on the other car they would have had to change out the flat hood to an SS hood?

[Jon Mello]

I don't know why they used those hoods, Joe. Later in the season they went back to flat hoods. Both '68 cars began life as bodies-in-white, not as complete "showroom" models.